I was a young and stupid kid at the time—maybe five or six years old—who did not yet grasp the concept of war. Since I’ve never been in the armed forces, since my country has never been invaded by enemy forces and left me fleeing for my life, since my parents have never been overseas ghosts for long periods of my life, I’m sure that I still don’t understand entirely what war really is and means. But as a kid, I can tell you that I was truly clueless.

You see, that older man began to cry because of something I asked him.